


Vultures

by hlravensnest_archivist



Category: Highlander: The Raven
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-12-31
Updated: 2006-12-31
Packaged: 2018-12-16 22:19:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11838153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hlravensnest_archivist/pseuds/hlravensnest_archivist
Summary: Note from Daire, the archivist: this story was originally archived atHL Raven's Nest. Deciding to give the stories a more long-term home, I began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address onHL Raven's Nest's collection profile.





	Vultures

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Daire, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [HL Raven's Nest](http://fanlore.org/wiki/HL_Raven%27s_Nest). Deciding to give the stories a more long-term home, I began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [HL Raven's Nest's collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/hlravensnest/profile).

Vultures by RSSacchi

  
  
  


_Vultures_

By RSS 

* * *

Amanda watches from The Sanctuary as the mob outside throws rocks. "Where the hell are the police?" She hears a rock hit the front door and another crash through a window. A scooter drives by, the passenger gets off, lights a Molotov Cocktail and throws it through the window. 

"Not this time!" 

Amanda rushes to the nearest fire extinguisher. The fire alarm sounds and the sprinklers turn on. There's gunfire and a round goes through a window. Amanda fights the fire with the extinguisher. Nick runs down the stairs wearing only a pair of pants. 

"I was wondering if it would take a bomb going off under you to wake you up." 

There's an explosion outside and Amanda looks out to the sight of her Mercedes engulfed in flames. "That's my car!" Amanda runs to the door but Nick grabs her. 

"Amanda, there's nothing you can do out there." 

Something hits the front door. There are police and fire truck sirens. 

"It's about time." 

* * *

Amanda inspects the charred remains of her front door then again at the inside of The Sanctuary. She feels the rush of another Immortal; turning, she sees Nick getting out of his SUV. She looks at him, shrugs and walks inside followed by Nick a few moments later. 

Amanda muses, "A totaled car. A couple of thousand in damages and about a week's worth of repairs in here." 

"It was a lot worse someplace else." 

"I don't like the sound of that." 

"A place we were guarding got torched. The two guards were stabbed and bludgeoned to death." 

"Oh my God!" 

* * *

Nick drives up to a small museum, taped off for investigation. There isn't much damage on the outside, but inside most of the damage is to the walls. There are burned out frames that Amanda presumes had priceless paintings. 

"I heard of art critics but this is ridiculous." Nick gives Amanda a dirty look. "I'm sorry. It's not a laughing matter." 

"The fires started on the paintings. The video cameras were also broken then burned." 

"The paintings, were they _avant garde?_ " 

"These were 18th century works; some were nudes but not any different than you'd see in any art museum." 

Amanda notices the date on a calendar, November 1. She remembers an 18th century November 1. 

* * *

**LISBON, NOVEMBER 1, 1755**

The shaking building wakes Amanda. She jumps out of bed then she realizes the shaking has stopped. Amanda wonders if it was a dream. She looks outside at a picturesque vista of Lisbon. She scans her room for any sign of a disturbance; only a couple bottles and glasses have tipped over. Suddenly a second, far more violent shaking occurs. The whole room tilts to one side sending Amanda into a wall. She sits stunned for a moment then she makes her way to the window, seeing devastated city. She can't see a single building left standing. 

* * *

**PRESENT TIME**

Amanda sits with Nick as he watches previous tapes from the security camera. Nick is looking for suspicious characters who may have targeted the museum. Amanda spots a character Nick doesn't consider suspicious. 

"Nick, pause it." Amanda gets close to the screen points to a tall, large framed woman, with blond hair. 

"Her name is Hella Geier." 

"Friend of yours?" 

"An occasional partner." 

* * *

**LISBON, NOVEMBER 1, 1755**

Amanda and Hella make their way to The Patricial. The parishioners are exiting as the city's fires get close. Hella remarks, "Perfect!" The thieves make their way inside. They grab as much as they can carry in the empty church. As they leave, Hella uses some candles to start a fire. 

"What are you doing?" 

"I do this should the fires outside decide against coming to The Patricial." 

* * *

**PRESENT TIME**

Amanda looks up at the clock; it's 5:30 AM. She and Nick have been up all night trying to find information about Hella. 

"Nick, how long are we going to stay at this?" 

"You don't have to stay up if you don't want to." 

"What about you? You know past a certain point you're not going to be able to see anything even if it's staring you in the face." 

"Just a little longer. I think I'm on to something." 

"Oh, tell me about it." 

"There's this Helena Abutre who bought a house that was vacant for twenty years." 

"Helena Abutre?" 

"Yes, she is Portuguese. Her description matches Geier's." Nick stands and walks towards the exit door. 

"Where are you going?" 

"To pay Helena Abutre a visit?" 

"Not for about eight hours you're not. You've been up all night. You're more likely to wrap yourself around a pole than to reach her address. You're certainly in no shape to take on another Immortal." 

* * *

The clock alarm wakes Amanda. It has been six hours since she had her conversation with Nick. She dresses, gets her sword, and walks out to her car. She unlocks her car, opens the door, and then sees Nick next to the door on the passenger's side. 

"Going somewhere, Amanda.?" 

"Nick, it might be better if I talk to her." 

"Talk?" 

"Talk to see if we have to fight. I don't want to talk my way into a fight." 

"Don't talk too long. If you're not back in two hours I'm coming after you." 

"Darling, don't worry. I'm a big girl; I can take care of myself." 

Amanda steps into her car and drives off. As she drives her mind wanders. 

* * *

**LISBON, NOVEMBER 4, 1755**

Amanda and Hella walk through the rubble, each carrying sacks full of looted valuables. Amanda turns her head in a clearing and sees a knot of soldiers looking back at her. The soldiers run towards her and shout, "You, stop!" 

Amanda turns towards Hella and shouts, "Soldiers!" Hella and Amanda drop their sacks and run. Amanda overtakes Hella and as she runs past, Hella grabs Amanda's arm, spins her around and punches her in the face. 

Amanda regains her consciousness as the soldiers pull her to her feet. She kicks one soldier in the shin and punches another in the jaw. She runs a few steps before a soldier strikes her from behind and knocks her down. She's punched a few more times as the soldiers pull Amanda to her feet. 

* * *

Amanda struggles as soldiers pull her up a makeshift scaffold. A priest prays in Latin as the soldiers put a rope around her neck. There's a push and she falls. 

* * *

**PRESENT TIME**

Amanda senses another Immortal as she walks up to Helena Abutre's house. When she knocks on the door Hella Geier answers. She puts on a sarcastic air. "Amanda, you were just in the neighborhood and decided to drop by?" 

"No, darling. An art gallery got torched recently." 

"A lot of placed got torched recently." 

"It seems whoever torched it didn't like the art. The fires centered around the paintings." 

"Isn't everyone an art critic these days?" 

"When your picture showed up on the gallery's video tape it brought back some old memories." 

"You're not looking for some payback are you?" 

"I'm not concerned with ancient history but with some recent murders." 

"Someone was killed?" 

"Two guards." 

"I read something about that in the newspaper. That is an occupational hazard for that line of work." 

"Would you know anything about any of this, darling?" 

"Just what I read in the paper. What I do know, kitten, is curiosity killed the cat and many an Immortal. I also know not concerning yourself in other Immortals' business is what has kept your pretty little head on top of your dainty little shoulders." 

* * *

**NEW YORK, 1930**

Amanda goes with Joe Scaroni to meet their accomplice. Joe let Amanda in on the job because they need someone who was good at second story work. Joe parks in front of a restaurant. Amanda is happy about that, she's famished. She's not so happy that she senses another Immortal. They walk into the restaurant. Amanda spots Hella in a corner booth wearing a large hat with a net but there's no mistaking her figure. Joe leads Amanda straight to Hella and they sit down. 

"Hellena, this is Amanda. Amanda, Hellena." The women nod at each other as Joe continues, "I've worked with Amanda before. She's excellent for this kind of work." 

"So, Amanda, you're not afraid of heights." 

"Not at all. I'm also very good at getting into small places." 

"I see. It's been a long wait; I have to powder my nose." 

"I'd better do the same." 

Hella and Amanda walk into the lady's room. Hella looks under the stalls then turns to Amanda. "You don't have any hard feels about what happened centuries ago?" 

"I never let feelings interfere with business." 

"Then we'll get along just fine." 

* * *

Amanda scales up the side of the five-story museum. When she reaches the roof she ties one end of a rope around an exhaust pipe and throws the other end down to Joe and Hella. It seems to take forever for them to reach the roof. 

"Glad you could get here before morning." 

Joe retorts, "Amanda, boasting is so unbecoming of a lady." 

"Knock it off you two." 

Amanda slips through a skylight as Joe drops down the rope. Amanda climbs down the rope, making her way to the gem section and helps herself to the best jewels. She wonders why she needed her two accomplices. She takes four diamonds and tucks them inside her glove. She fills a bag with diamonds then makes her way to the skylight. Checking for the guards, she then shines a flashlight onto the skylight. A rope comes down and Amanda climbs up to the roof. Joe takes her bag of jewels and helps Amanda onto the roof. 

Hella throws the rope over the side of the building and climbs down. Joe follows Hella and Amanda follows Joe. As Amanda nears the ground she hears a grunt and a dying groan. Amanda looks down and sees Hella pulling a knife out of Joe's body. 

Amanda jumps to the ground and rushes to Joe. She looks at his wound and checks his pulse but he's dead. 

"You, you, how could you?" 

"I just gave him his cut. When they find him they will think one of his grease ball friends cut him out of the deal. This way we have a clean getaway with no chance of him squealing on us. Now why don't you run along." 

"Run along and let you keep all the jewels?" 

"Look sister, run along and you can keep your life plus whatever you decided to hold out on." 

Amanda runs into the darkness. 

* * *

**PRESENT TIME**

Amanda walks into Nick's office. "I talked with Hella a.k.a. Helena Abutre. Eight to five she did it." 

"There's still reasonable doubt?" 

"Well, a shadow of a doubt." 

"Maybe I have something that could make us sure." 

"Oh?" 

"Adil Bawahia; he heads a small gang that was involved in some of the rioting." 

"When do we get to meet Adil Bawahia?" 

"Right now." Nick leads Amanda out to his SUV. 

* * *

Nick and Amanda arrive at an apartment. Nick knocks on the door but no one answers. 

"Amanda, would you?" 

Amanda turns the knob and finds the door is unlocked. They both realize something must be wrong; no one in his position in this neighborhood would leave their door unlocked. They enter the apartment and find Adil Bawahia's body on the floor in a puddle of blood. Amanda gives the body a close look. _Two sharp object wounds, almost identical. They are over 3,000 miles and almost a century apart._ For Amanda this is beyond a shadow of a reasonable doubt. 

* * *

Amanda drives onto the lot's roof. There's one other car in the lot. Hella stands in front of her car with her two handed sword drawn. Amanda stops her car, steps out, and draws her sword. 

"Getting daring in your old age Amanda." 

"Just learned I can't spend my life avoiding problems." 

"Get back in your car, leave, and I'll just write it off to a bout of stupidity on your part." 

"Not this time, Hella." 

The women approach each other, each swinging their swords in a wide arc. Hella's blow forces Amanda back. They lock swords and Hella sends Amanda reeling back. Hella closes the distance but Amanda cartwheels away from Hella. 

"Oh the little one thinks she's nimble?" 

Hella holds her sword in front of her with one hand one the hilt and the other on the blade. She jumps over her sword and follows up with a flurry and sends Amanda's sword flying across the lot. Amanda sweeps Hella's legs then runs to retrieve her sword. Picking her sword up, she runs onto Hella's car, jumps onto the roof and Hella swings at Amanda's legs. Amanda back flips off the car. Hella chases Amanda around the car a bit then Amanda runs from the car. 

Amanda stops, ducks under Hella's swing, then stabs her in the belly. Hella steps back then forward, swinging wildly with her sword. Amanda knocks the sword from Hella's hands. Hella drops to her knees. She reaches inside her coat and pulls out a knife. Amanda grabs Hella's knife hand. She feels Hella weaken then twists the knife out of Hella's hand. Hella looks up at Amanda. 

"I never thought it would be you." 

"Neither did any of the others." Amanda swings her sword and takes Hella's head. 

A ghostly image rises from Hella's body. There's rolling thunder and the ground shakes. There's a surge through Amanda's body. She sees images of devastated Lisbon, a burning Moscow, a ransacked southern plantation, and a bombed out Berlin. 

* * *

**EPILOGUE**

Amanda walks into Nick's office and throws Hella's knife onto his desk. 

"Hella's?" 

"Yes. Case closed." 

**THE END**

* * *

© 2006   
Please send comments to the author! 

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